Global Trade Alert

On 23 February 2013, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Brendan O'Connor, announced the tightening of the subclass 457 of the Temporary Work Skilled program.
 
The program is directed to skilled foreign workers who are sponsored and nominated by a business (in Australia) to work in the country on a temporary basis. A business can sponsor a worker if it cannot find an appropriately skilled Australian citizen or permanent resident to fill a position.
The Ministry envisages some changes to the program in order to ensure that local business do not overlook local workers when employing foreigners. The proposed changes are the following:
-employers must demonstrate the existence of a genuine shortage of local labor;
-higher English language requirements are introduced;
-higher training requirements for businesses that use the program;
-increase in market salary exemption;
-restricted on-hire arrangements of 457-visa workers;
-employers who have abused the 457 program are forbidden from making use of the program in the future.